Method of applying stay-strips to boxes.



'No. 663,037. Patented Dec. 4, I900.

T. MORGAN.

METHOD OF APPLYING STAY STRIPS TO BOXES.

A lication filed Novvll 1393.

(No Model.)

cu b c a! 5 01/ I6 507155555 Tp m /flm w z. 3 M f? M61 3 Y NITIED STATES ATEN W-FFICTE.

THOMAS MORGAN, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO CLARENCE W. HOBBS, OF SAME PLACE.

METHOD OF APPLYING STAY-STRIPS TO BOXES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 663,037. dated December 4, 1900;

Applicatioil filed November 11, 1898. Serial No. 696,128. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS MORGAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Worcester, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Applying Stay-Strips to the Corners of Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

In the manufacture of paper boxes it is customary to apply to the outside of the boxcorners narrow strips of strong paper or mus-.

'close contact therewith by the hand of the operator or by a corner-staying machine by which a narrow adhesive stay-strip is applied to the corner of the box and pressed between two dies having annular faces. When the stay-strip is applied by hand, the air is expelled from between the stay-strip and the box-body and the stay-strip is brought into close contact with the surface of the box, notwithstanding the irregularities of its surface, as the pressure of the hand accommodates itself to any unevenness in the surface of the box-body, and a stay-strip of flexible material can be used, such as thin paper or cloth which conforms readily to the surface of the box and dries without peeling.

In the case of a machine-applied stay-strip a material of considerable stilfness must be used capable of being controlled by the operation of the machine, and a heavy pressure must be applied by the compressing-dies in order to overcome any unevenness in the surface of the box, and the adhesion of a machine-applied strip is usually imperfect as compared with that of a hand-applied stays'trip, owing to the imperfect contact secured by the pressure of the dies and to the tendency of a heavy or stiff stay-strip to peel off in the process of drying.

My present invention relates to a new and improved method of applying the stay-strips to the coners of paper boxes by which the stay-strips and the covering-strip are both applied to the box at a single operation, and the adhesion of the stay-strip to the surface of the box is secured by its being rubbed by the hand of the operator, as in the case of a handapplied stay-strip, thereby expelling the air between the stay-strip and the surface of the box and securing a perfect adhesion of the stay-strip; and it consists in attaching the stay-strips to the under side of a coveringstrip at proper intervals corresponding with the distances between the corners of the box, so that as the covering-strip is applied in the usual manner to the box the stay-strips will be carried along with the covering-strip and applied to the corners of the box. The

under side of the stay-strips and coveringstrip are rendered adhesive and are rubbed against the surface of the box by the hand of the operator as the covering-strip is wound thereon. Mypresentinvention,however,does not relate to any especial means for attaching the stay-strips to a covering-strip, but it consists, broadly, in the method of applying a stay-strip to the box-corner during the operation of covering a box with a strip of coveringpaper by attaching the stay-strips to the under side of the covering-strip with the under side of the stay-strip rendered adhesive, so that in the application of the covering-strip to the box-body by any of the ordinarily-practiced methods a stay-strip will be carried along with the covering-strip and applied to the cornersof the box and rubbed into adhesive contact with the box simultaneously with the application of the covering-strip.

In the accompanying drawings,which illustrate my improved method of applying staystrips to the corners of paper boxes, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a box-covering machine now in common use for applying a covering-strip of paper to the outside of the box. Fig. 2 is a plan View of the same. Fig. 3 represents the under side of a portion of a covering-strip, showing stay-strips attached thereto; and Fig. 4 represents in perspective view a paper box having the cor- -ner stay-strips and covering-strip applied to the outside of the box by the operation of a covering-machine, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, preparatory to turning the covering-strip and stay-strips over the edge of the box and attaching them to its inner side.

Similar characters refer to similar the different figures.

Referring to the drawings, 1 denotes the framework of a covering-machine; 2, the rotating box-form; 3, a cutting mechanism by which the covering-strip is severed; 4, a gumming-roll partiallyimmersed in adhesive material contained in a gum-box or paste-pan 5 and running in contact with the continuous covering-strip 6, which is taken from a coil 7, supported upon a rotating spool or reel 8 and conducted over the gum-roll 4: and supporting-rods 9 between the cutting mechanism 3 to the rotating box-form 2, where it is applied by the operator to a paper box 10 supported upon the box-form,

The construction and operation of the abovedescribed mechanism forapplying a covering-strip to a paper box will be well understood by those conversant with the manufacture of paper poxes, as covering-machines of the type illustrated in the accompanying drawings are well known and in common use in the manufacture of paper boxes.

In carrying my invention into practice I first attach to the under side of a covering-strip adapted to be applied to a paper box a series of stay-strips arranged at stated intervals corresponding to the distances between the corners of the box to be covered, so that when the covering-strip is wound in the usual manner upon the box the stay-st rips will register accurately with and be applied in the proper parts in position to the corners of the box and rubbed into adhesive contact therewith by the hand of the operator.simultaneously with the application of the covering-strip.

In Fig. 3 I have represented the under side of a covering-strip with a series of stay-strips attached thereto and at predetermined distances apart corresponding with the sides of the box to be covered, so that in the operation of applying the covering-strip the staystrip a will be applied to the corner A of the box, and as the covering strip is wound around the box by the rotation of the boxform in the direction of the arrow 11 staystrip 1) will register with and become applied to the corner B, stay-strip c to the corner 0, and stay-strip dto the corner D of the box. Between the stay-strip d and the next succeeding stay-strip a a space is left slightly longer than the side of the box between its corners D and A, so that the covering-strip between the stay-strip d and the broken line 12 will cover the side of the boxand leave a small portion 13 of the covering-strip to be attached to the next succeeding box, thereby forming a lap in the covering-strip.

In the arrangement of the stay-strips upon the under side of the covering-stri p the spaces between the stay strips will successively equal the length of the box sides 14, 15, and 16, and the side 17, plus the length of the portion 13, forming the lap. In applying the stay-strip to the second box the portion 13 is applied to the side of the box, so as to bring the stay-strip a into registration with the corner A of the box, when the covering-strip is wound upon the box, as already described.

The ends ofthe stay-strips may, if desired, project beyond the edge of the covering-stri p, as at 15*, so that when the covering-strip and stay-strips have been applied to thebox, as shown in Fig. 4, theymay be turned over the edge of the box and attached to its inner side, as indicated by the broken lines 18 and 19.

By my improved method of applying staystrips to the corners of boxes very flexible material may be used, such as thin paper or thin cloth, which readily shapes itself to the form of the box-corner, and I secure a perfect adhesion of the stay-strip to the box independently of any irregularity in the surface simultaneously with the application of the covering-strip by means of hand-rubbing. In case of extremely-flexible stay-strips applied with their ends projecting beyond the end of the covering-strip I employ a rod or wire 20, placed parallel with the coveringstrip and in the same plane as it passes through the covering-machine to afford a rest or support for the projecting ends of the staystrips What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The within-described method of attaching stay-strips to the corners of boxes, and consisting in attaching a series of stay-strips to one side of a strip of paper covering adapted ,ito be wound around the outside of the box, i-with said stay-strips arranged at intervals corresponding to the distances between the corners of the box; rendering the said covering-strip and the stay-strips attached therea to adhesive and winding the same around the ,outer surface of the box with the stay-strips applied to the corners of the box, substan- Witnesses;

' RUFUS B. FOWLER,

ELIZABETH GRAY.

IIO 

